


Taking a Break

by Humblefun



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Aftermath of the Apprentice fiasco, Dickie needs a break, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humblefun/pseuds/Humblefun
Summary: When Dick was six years old he'd asked his mom if she'd be upset if he stopped performing.





	Taking a Break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IdentityConstellations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdentityConstellations/gifts).

> So, this is for my friend, I hope this is more comfort than hurt for you!! In my head this takes place after an Apprentice AU that I haven't written yet lol. Also any puns you may notice are completely intentional.

When Dick was six years old, he’d crawled into his mother’s lap and asked her if she would be upset if he didn’t want to perform anymore. He hadn’t wanted to quit. He was just curious. She’d looked at him - most likely knowing his question wasn’t a serious one - and cupped his cheeks in her hands. She’d told him that she wouldn’t be upset and that she’d love him no matter what he did or didn't do. 

Now he stands and watches as Bruce reads and wonders how he’s going to ask. Bruce flips a page and Dick loses his nerve. He turns on his heel, ready to retreat up to his room. 

“You can sit with me, if you want.”

Something curls in his gut, a reflexive anger to Bruce’s constant vigilance, but he pushes it down. There’s no reason to be angry. He turns around again, and forces himself into the living room. He walks over to the couch and sits down. He presses himself against Bruce’s side and Bruce accommodates him without acknowledgement, simply adjusting his hold on the book and putting his arm around Dick’s shoulders so he can curl closer.

He just sits there for a while, his head resting on Bruce, basking in the safety of it all. No danger, no pain, no fear; just safety. He reads with Bruce, trying to figure out what the book is, until he sees some character names and smiles. 

“Tolkien was made to be read aloud,” he murmurs. 

He feels Bruce turn to look at him and he realizes his mistake. They’d used to read together all the time when he was younger. Dumas, Dickens, Doyle, Austen, Hugo - books that Dick hadn’t always wanted to pick up himself, (Tolkien being the exception, of course) but were endlessly soothing to listen to in Bruce’s rumble of a voice. As he’d gotten older, the reading had tapered off unless he’d requested it, usually when he was shaken by something. He risks a look upwards, meets Bruce’s concerned eyes - that gaze that searches and makes him feel like an open book - and looks back down immediately. 

“Don’t.” 

Bruce sighs and closes the book and something sad settles in Dick’s chest. Here he is, disrupting. Bruce had been calm, relaxed, and now he's ruined it. He thinks that he should bolt. He can't do this right now, but then Bruce is hooking gentle fingers under his chin and tilting his gaze upward. 

“Talk to me.” 

Dick bats his hand away. 

“It’s not a big deal.” 

Bruce frowns. 

“It’s really not, okay? I’m fine. Today was fine and you’re looking at me like you somehow got J’onn’s ability to read minds and it’s grating and-” 

“Dick.”

He stops talking. His hands are balled into fists at his sides. His eyes are burning. His heart hurts. What if Bruce is insulted? What if he's angry? What if he's disappointed? But he knows if he doesn’t ask now, he never will. He pushes the words out in a rush.

“Would you be upset if I didn’t want to be Robin anymore?”

The question hangs heavy in the air. And then, 

“Oh, Dickie.”

Dick thinks of his mom. He thinks about how he was just curious then and how he’s so, _ so _serious now. When he breathes in, it catches in his throat. Bruce's hand cradles the back of his head and pulls him into a hug. 

“I let you do this with me because it was an outlet for all the anger and hurt you had in you,” Bruce says. 

He’s talking the way he used to when they’d get back from a bad mission. Dick thinks that he should find that irritating, but it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from falling apart. A hand runs through his hair and he reaches up to hold onto Bruce’s shirt. 

“I _ never _ want you to think that you have to do anything. Honestly, kiddo, if wanted to stop, I’d be relieved.” 

Dick knows he’s not going to stop completely. He could never. He loves being Robin too much. But after the past six months, he needs rest, he needs - 

“It’s...I just need a break.”

His words are muffled by Bruce's shirt, but Dick knows Bruce understands when he hugs him tighter. They sit like that for a long time and Dick wonders how he ever left this. He loves his friends. He loves California and leading a team, but this, sitting wrapped up in complete and utter security, that beats everything. Eventually, he pulls back to grab the book. He hands it to Bruce and offers a weak smile.

“I think the Orcs were taking the Hobbits to Isengard.”


End file.
